The kiddos and the Spring

Surprise, surprise, the kiddos love to go walkies! There is nothing better than a walk with mom in the warm Spring sunshine. Of course a walk with dad would be quite nice too, but dad is usually deaf on this ear. (Right, dad?) Believe me, I really try to walk them every day, it is so good to see them having fun! Well, of course it is Indy having most of the fun - when it is grey and dull outside Dessa could survive on the coutch munching goodies just as well. But the boy is dragging us always out. And after a long day it is amazingly relaxing to get in touch with mother nature, no matter if it is snowing or ice cold.

But today of course the weather was gorgeous and Spring was everywhere. So we set off again...

Everything is in full bloom, and the trees are especially beautiful. When you walk past them you hear the happy humming of bees and bumblebees, it smells sweetly and the birds are chirping in a wild competition against each other.

The kiddos, who are jumping around happily when there are -10°C outside start panting when it is +20°C. So some relaxing in the shade is always welcome. My beautiful kiddos underneath that beautiful white tree. *sigh*

Okay, these flowers here are not so beautiful, but they are the first signal of nature that Summer is around the corner! And Dessa looks nice next to such flashy colours, this is why I took this photo.

We even met a new friend, Hera, a seven month old German Shepherd. She is gorgeous! But there was a lot of barking and growling going on as my two made clear that they are the adults and she is just the kid. Her owner just said to me, "Just let them, they work it out by themselves. Don´t say anything....", the reason behind being that her former dog, a huge female German Shepherd, always tried to dominate tiny Dessa very harshly so that Dessa was crying and whining and rolling in the dirt, and since Indy came he always was defending Dessa, but the German Shepherd never stopped attacking my tiny baby, so the two shepherds always had to be leashed and dragged off or maybe something serious would have happened. Her owner does not want this to happen again, she wants her young girl to be peaceful and accept other girls, and Indy usually is the perfect gentleman when Dessa and I are not threatened. It was a bit nerve-wrecking today, seeing the young girl rolling the the grass, with Indy growling at her and Dessa barking, but soon it was okay and they dashed about together, and everybody was happy. Well done, all!

Great walk, nice weather, good day!

Belvedere and "Gold" exhibition

Right now there is an exhibition at the Viennese Belvedere called "Gold". We went there on Easter Saturday to do something for our intellectual knowledge.

Well, let me just say, my intellectual knowledge has not improved after it, or maybe I am just not intellectual enough. To me it seemed that the only intention of the exhibition was to collect golden things (like an old golden chair where I almost sat on because I thought it was some place to relax) or strange pieces of art where gold comes in somehow - like a black painting with a golden frame and the word "Ich" in the middle of all the black. Let´s not forget about the "Intergalactic totem" (a kind of oil-can smashed in at the side) or "the golden king with synthetic hair" (a golden puppet with an afro-american wig). You don´t believe it? Well, go and see it for yourself. Stefan insists that there were some really nice objects...

But the Belvedere was great! It is a historical building complex built as a Summer residence by Prince Eugene of Savoy and consists of the Upper and Lower Palace, the Orangery and the Palace Stables. The Belvedere has wonderful State Rooms that are open to the public, and you find enormous art collections there, that are on exhibit permanently (beside the always changing small exhibitions like "Gold").  http://www.belvedere.at/en It is definately worth a visit, and I am sure you will love it there.

The upper entrance, where you reach the Upper Belvedere after a short stroll. The weather was not nice that day, Winter gave a quick da capo, but still you could see that the gardens were already prepared for the Summer season.

Behind the Upper Belvedere you find a wonderful garden where you can stroll down the soft hill to the Lower Belvedere.

I think that the garden looked wonderful already - in Summer it must be smashing! I definately will go back and see it when everything is in full bloom, maybe in combination with one of the permanent exhibitions there. I love Classical art, I really do, it is just the contemporary art I am usually lost with, being the reason why I have been to the New York Metropolitan Museum like a zillion times but never ever to the MOMA...

A great place for a day trip, maybe with some nice lunch afterwards somewhere in the area. What we did was going home and I tried my new kitchen blender...

Weekend in Prague - last part

The next morning we went to the Old Town. The best way again is to start from the Karlsbrücke, make a left and walk right into the centre.

The Altstädter Rathaus and square around it is one of the most frequented squares in Prague, and it is right in the middle of downtown! We wanted to sit and have a cup of tea, but all the coffee places were crowded so there was no chance.

The Erkerkapelle and the Astronomische Uhr on the other hand are some definate must-sees. I especially loved the "Kratzputzschmuck" on one of the houses. Sun, moon and stars - the astronomical clock is counting more than just the hours!

The place is great, many bands playing their typical Bohemian sound, and they really spread good mood. Besides there are plenty of nice souvenir shops. We bought a tiny miniature-painting, that is on display in our hall now - so much better than any plastic figurines of this or that or something else.

Afterwards we went back to the Vltava (the Moldau) - the weather was so lovely, and it was so good to hang out there, watch the boaties pass and enjoy the Spring morning sun.

Just a few steps away was the Prague Musikverein, and next time we sure hope to experience one of the great concerts there.

We loved it here very, very much and we were sad when it was time to go to the station. We went at 2.30 and again it took us 4,5 hrs to get back to good old Vienna. It was a wonderful weekend full of beautiful sunshine, we thank Julia, our guide, very very much, and we definately will be coming back soon. I would like to finish this blog with just the way that I started my series about Prague. Riding back towards Vienna we rode into a beautiful sunset....